8 ms·

How to Install Ubuntu Linux on your Dell PC

179 points by agonzalezro 11y ago

aedocw 11y ago
I know this is a Dell thread but for those interested in running Linux on a sweet ultrabook, check out the Asus UX305. I've been running Ubuntu 15.04 on it and it works beautifully, no special instructions required. Also only $800 - probably one of the best deals going in linux laptops these days.
- mikekchar 11y ago
  Since you started the "not-a-dell" thread, I'll chime in. I picked up a Toshiba Dynabook KIRA V63, which is very similar to the Dell XPS 13 in specs. I'm quite happy with it. It doesn't seem to have the problems described for the XPS and I haven't needed a custom kernel. When it first came out the track pad was virtually unusable, but a kernel update a month or so ago seems to have fixed it. Anyway, this is a Japanese model, so I'm not sure if/when it will be available in other places in the world. More generally, the Broadwell 5500 i5 is an amazing processor. It is very low power and is surprisingly fast. I thought I would be making tradeoffs for power/battery life, but not so. I have been using this as my main dev box since March (granted, I'm doing web development, so my compile chain is rather forgiving ;-) ). I don't get anywhere near the rated battery life, but I can easily hit 6-7 hours of real work time (including wifi) without having to plug in. Since I am often working in strange places this is huge for me. Anyway, the company I'm working for at the moment has a Dell contract and I've been encouraging them to look at the XPS 13 for remote people.
reddotX 11y ago
the year of th.. yeah.. i'll see myself out
- staunch 11y ago
  The year of the Linux desktop was brought about by Android, at a growth rate and scale far beyond what Linux any enthusiast dreamed about 15+ years ago. And it came at Microsoft's expense, which means prophecy has been fulfilled and the world righted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents#Documents_I_and_II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents#Documents_I...
  - undertow 11y ago
    The year of the Linux desktop was brought about by Android. Oh, right. Ubuntu had nothing to do with it. Definitely not back in April of 2008, with LTS 8.04. No way. It was Android. The mobile operating system intended for smart phones was what brought the Linux desktop to everyone.
    - bdcravens 11y ago
      I've dealt with a lot of overseas developers running Ubuntu, but other than that, not sure how often I've seen it in the wild. Compared with the dozens or hundreds of Android phones I see every day. Many spend more time on their phone than on their computer, so I think it's fair to call it the "new desktop"
    - staunch 11y ago
      There are 1+ billion Android users. Are there even 1 million Ubuntu desktop users? I'm one of them.
      - phaemon 11y ago
        Yes, from wikipedia: In 2015, Canonical's Ubuntu Insights page stated "Ubuntu now has over 40 million desktop users and counting" Probably based on the number of hits to the repositories (so it would obviously be a minimum number).
        giovannibajo1 11y ago
        Not to be picky, but that number includes servers too, where it is widely used.
        phaemon 11y ago
        Since they specifically say Desktop, I'm guessing they're measuring updates to stuff that's only on the Desktop (say, Unity or something).
BorisMelnik 11y ago
Since they are providing installation instructions on their website, does this mean they will also do phone / email support for Linux related installation issues?
- SG- 11y ago
  Right at #1: "Note: If you install an operating system other than the one that shipped with your system, then you do so at your own risk. Dell can't certify that the hardware will be compatible and we may not be able to support the system in that configuration."
  - theyCallMeSwift 11y ago
    Dell has computers that they sell with Ubuntu on them already: http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-laptop?c=us&l=en&s=biz http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-lapt...
  - truncate 11y ago
    I just bought refurbished XPS 13 with Windows because I wanted to save some money. Ubuntu wont work out of the box. There are whole bunch of issues that I'm still trying to resolve. So even if hardware is compatible, you may have hard time. I think it will take some time, because everything gets smooth. (afaik, hardware wise just wifi card is different)
    - pascalo 11y ago
      try using a newer kernel, fixed a lot of issues for my xps13 (not the latest revision). http://askubuntu.com/questions/119080/how-to-update-kernel-to-the-latest-mainline-version-without-any-distro-upgrade/142000#142000 http://askubuntu.com/questions/119080/how-to-update-kernel-t...
      - truncate 11y ago
        Thanks. There seems to be another issue of broadcom wifi being active when suspending hence draining all the battery. Have to figure workaround for that as well.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
gargarplex 11y ago
What's the best way to get an Ubuntu/Debian-compatible linux distro on my Mac laptop without destroying my data? The slowness of Yosemite seriously amps my cortisol.
- r3bl 11y ago
  Do you have a separate partition for your data? If so, then just install the distro normally. If not, then I don't see a way you can do it without losing your data since they're two completely different operating systems.
- jordigh 11y ago
  Both of them can boot from removable media (USB, CD, floppies)... You could just boot forever from a USB, using the same USB as temporary storage until the day when you're ready to partition your drive and install the free OS to your hard drive.
  - gargarplex 11y ago
    That's a good idea. Unfortunately the Ubuntu USB "livecd" gives me a bizarre error code in reference to keyword firmware. I would actually buy a new linux laptop if I knew where to get one.
    - amk_ 11y ago
      System76[1] laptops come with Ubuntu out of the box. Historically Thinkpads have had pretty good hardware support, too. [1]: https://system76.com/ https://system76.com/
- reddotX 11y ago
  if you have an older mac just install Ubuntu Mate http://i.imgur.com/HB2meal.jpg http://i.imgur.com/HB2meal.jpg https://ubuntu-mate.org/ https://ubuntu-mate.org/
  - gargarplex 11y ago
sirsar 11y ago
How official are publications in Dell's "Knowledge Base"? This one looks like it was written by a non-native English speaker, and doesn't seem to provide much Dell-specific information.
- agonzalezro 11y ago
  As far as I know they are directly coming from Dell. That's the "breaking" part of this manual, that a retailer as big as them are trying to explain how to get rid of Windows and just install a Linux distro.
  - dogma1138 11y ago
    They have been selling Ubuntu on laptops for years now, you used to be able to get it on low end laptops like the vostro now days it seems its reserved for developer editions of their xps line only.
    - gtk40 11y ago
      They have some cheaper ones too, such as this: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3551-laptop-ubuntu/pd?ref=PD_Family http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3551-laptop-ubuntu/pd?r... (also a 14" for cheaper) I have a Dell Mini 9 that I got for >$200 years (2009?) that came with Ubuntu that I still use regularly. Now it's running Puppy Linux (Slackware based) though.
    - reddotX 11y ago
      yep New XPS 13 Developer Editionhttp://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx New Inspiron 14 3000 Series Ubuntu Edition http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-14-3451-laptop-ubuntu/pd?ref=PD_OC http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-14-3451-laptop-ubuntu/pd?r... New Inspiron 15 3000 Series - Ubuntu edition http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3551-laptop-ubuntu/pd?ref=PD_Family http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3551-laptop-ubuntu/pd?r...
    - tormeh 11y ago
      I don't get that. I would pay more for official Ubuntu support. Like, $150 more.
theyCallMeSwift 11y ago
Most people don't know this, but Dell actually has an amazing line of computers that come with Ubuntu on them already. Best part - there's a team of people who make sure there's 100% driver support for everything on the computer. Check it out: https://sputnik.github.io/ https://sputnik.github.io/
- marktangotango 11y ago
  I bought a dell 1525n in 08a with ubuntu preinstalled. Used it exclusively for several years. Tiday it has an ssd, 2 gb of ram xubuntu 1404, and boots tk login in 10 secs.
- otar 11y ago
  I'm very happy that I bought Dell XPS 13 (aka Sputnik 3) instead of MacBook Air. There were some problems regarding driver support thought... but in the latest Ubuntu 15.04 most of them, maybe even all of them, are gone. I've been using it for almost 1.5 years and can't recommend it higher.
  - aroman 11y ago
    How's the battery life? Durability? Does the computer sleep/wake up when opening/closing the lid (as expected)?
    - otar 11y ago
      Note: I have a late 2013 edition, Sputnik 3, there's a newer - 2015 edition which has a much better battery life from what I've read. On average lasts ~7 hours, less if you're watching a video. Yes, sleep/wake up is working as expected. I myself was very impressed when I got the laptop, I didn't expect such beautiful and fine tuned laptop from Dell.
      - kogepathic 11y ago
        I have a Dell E6320 (Core i3-2310M) from 2011 that I'm running Arch on with a 6 cell battery. The laptop can easily go for 6 hours with WiFi on if you're just editing code or managing some servers via SSH. Upgraded to 16GB of RAM and an SSD. The only thing I wish was that the screen was higher resolution than 1366x768, but otherwise it's absolutely fantastic for Linux. The dock works so seamlessly it's amazing.
Adaptive 11y ago
I'm writing this on the first Dell I've owned since... 1999: a new "Developer Edition" XPS-13 2015 (FHD i5 variant for max power savings, which are pretty incredible). This is close the best linux laptop I've used, including various my various thinkpads and macbooks. A couple years ago I met an enthusiastic Barton George showing off the first gen XPS 13 at the ubuntu dev conference. It was sexy but flawed. I wasn't interested in the machine, but I thought Barton was a guy to watch. His project Sputnik group is the only reason I have kept Dell on my radar at all. They could be doing a lot in a better way: the customer outreach, ordering process, out of box experience: all include some (at times very) rough edges. Linux on the desktop is happening and, as I've said for a long time, it's happening where it needs to: with developers first. I'm not super excited with their Ubuntu centric strategy, but it's minimal effort to get Arch up and running on the Dell dev units. If anyone is going this route I'm maintaining a kernel for the XPS 13 (2015) here: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/linux-xps13-alt/ https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/linux-xps13-alt/
- wyldfire 11y ago
  I just purchased the same laptop. It's really excellent. But I am a little nervous about occasional panics when entering/exiting standby (15.04 vivid, 3.19.0-18).
  - Adaptive 11y ago
    I jumped immediately to Arch, so can't speak to the situation with Ubuntu, sorry. I did walk through the initial out of the box boot/config of Ubuntu but was not impressed with the Dell tweaks and setup process, so dumped it. I'm definitely happier on a 4.0 kernel.
  - woodson 11y ago
    I've also experienced occasional panics when entering/exiting standby, but only when a JVM instance or Virtualbox were running at the time. Otherwise standby/suspend seem to work fine (though maybe that's just a coincidence). I'm having a very good experience so far (14.04, 4.0 mainline kernel). Palm detection was broken, but the fix in [1] seems to have solved that as well. [1] http://stevenkohlmeyer.com/fixing-palm-detect-ubuntu-14-04/ http://stevenkohlmeyer.com/fixing-palm-detect-ubuntu-14-04/
bdcravens 11y ago
I just installed 14.04 on an 3-4 year old Inspiron. Haven't really pushed it, but it seems to have no issues, and I didn't have to do anything for everything to work; the vanilla install seemed fine.
- bwldrbst 11y ago
  I've been running Ubuntu on an Inspiron 17R SE since 2012. With the exception of the multi-touch touchpad pretty much everything worked fine out of the box.
Difwif 11y ago
Still waiting for Dell to fully support Ubuntu in their 2015 XPS 13 model. I made the switch from a Thinkpad after Lenovo burned me too many times. While the keyboard isn't quite as excellent it's still top notch and it's one of the best laptops I've ever owned. That being said getting everything working in Ubuntu has been a bit of a fiasco [1]. Luckily after some firmware upgrades and the new kernel in 15.04, a lot of issues have been fixed, but the laptop still does strange things waking up from sleep. The worst issue though is that audio still seems to not work in a dual boot configuration. The laptop can't produce sound from the speakers or headphone jack in both Windows and Ubuntu when booting between the two OS's. It seems the hardware gets put in a strange state by either OS and it takes two full reboots after switching from Windows<->Ubuntu to get the audio device to be recognized. Also HDPI support in Ubuntu is still a little lacking so the beautiful higher-than-retina display sometimes makes things absurdly small. I've seen a lot of progress on this front though. I really love this device but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the excellent out of the box hardware support for Thinkpads in Ubuntu. [1] - https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2015-model/ https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2...
- vinay427 11y ago
  How did Lenovo burn you? Even minimal distros such as Arch with various DEs/WMs work great out of the box on my T450s, because all of the hardware is supported in the kernel. Reading the 2015 XPS 13 Ubuntu guide made it seem like a painful process that involved downloading drivers, etc.
  - smhg 11y ago
    3 things I can think of straight away: - WiFi-card whitelist - Function-keys touch strip - Fn and Ctrl keys switch
    - stonogo 11y ago
      - WiFi-card whitelist gone in the [x,t][2,4,5]50 series - Function-keys touch strip existed on one model for one revision, is now gone - Fn and Ctrl keys switch this layout is correct and is mandated in the first chapter of the Bible
justcommenting 11y ago
Not an endorsement of Dell or Ubuntu, but Dell appears to offer 8 (mostly lower-end) laptop models with Ubuntu pre-installed: https://www.dell.com/us/p/laptops https://www.dell.com/us/p/laptops
advancingu 11y ago
I've set up a public issue tracker on Github for the XPS 13 (2015) developer edition: https://github.com/advancingu/XPS13Linux/issues https://github.com/advancingu/XPS13Linux/issues It should contain descriptions and some workaround for the most obvious issues that currently exist for running Linux on these machines.
leommoore 11y ago
Kudo's to Dell for acknowledging that the world is more than just Windows. I'm the proud owner of a 1st Gen XPS 13 Developer Edition. It's a truly beautiful product and a joy to use (apart from some Wifi issues)
chdir 11y ago
There's lots of love for XPS 13 on this thread. I'm considering a switch from Thinkpad+Asus to something different. Is the "XPS 15" just as good? (Although it looks pricey).

179 points by agonzalezro 11y ago

I know this is a Dell thread but for those interested in running Linux on a sweet ultrabook, check out the Asus UX305. I've been running Ubuntu 15.04 on it and it works beautifully, no special instructions required. Also only $800 - probably one of the best deals going in linux laptops these days.

mikekchar 11y ago
Since you started the "not-a-dell" thread, I'll chime in. I picked up a Toshiba Dynabook KIRA V63, which is very similar to the Dell XPS 13 in specs. I'm quite happy with it. It doesn't seem to have the problems described for the XPS and I haven't needed a custom kernel. When it first came out the track pad was virtually unusable, but a kernel update a month or so ago seems to have fixed it. Anyway, this is a Japanese model, so I'm not sure if/when it will be available in other places in the world. More generally, the Broadwell 5500 i5 is an amazing processor. It is very low power and is surprisingly fast. I thought I would be making tradeoffs for power/battery life, but not so. I have been using this as my main dev box since March (granted, I'm doing web development, so my compile chain is rather forgiving ;-) ). I don't get anywhere near the rated battery life, but I can easily hit 6-7 hours of real work time (including wifi) without having to plug in. Since I am often working in strange places this is huge for me. Anyway, the company I'm working for at the moment has a Dell contract and I've been encouraging them to look at the XPS 13 for remote people.

reddotX 11y ago

the year of th.. yeah.. i'll see myself out

staunch 11y ago
The year of the Linux desktop was brought about by Android, at a growth rate and scale far beyond what Linux any enthusiast dreamed about 15+ years ago. And it came at Microsoft's expense, which means prophecy has been fulfilled and the world righted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents#Documents_I_and_II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents#Documents_I...
- undertow 11y ago
  The year of the Linux desktop was brought about by Android. Oh, right. Ubuntu had nothing to do with it. Definitely not back in April of 2008, with LTS 8.04. No way. It was Android. The mobile operating system intended for smart phones was what brought the Linux desktop to everyone.
  - bdcravens 11y ago
    I've dealt with a lot of overseas developers running Ubuntu, but other than that, not sure how often I've seen it in the wild. Compared with the dozens or hundreds of Android phones I see every day. Many spend more time on their phone than on their computer, so I think it's fair to call it the "new desktop"
  - staunch 11y ago
    There are 1+ billion Android users. Are there even 1 million Ubuntu desktop users? I'm one of them.
    - phaemon 11y ago
      Yes, from wikipedia: In 2015, Canonical's Ubuntu Insights page stated "Ubuntu now has over 40 million desktop users and counting" Probably based on the number of hits to the repositories (so it would obviously be a minimum number).
      - giovannibajo1 11y ago
        Not to be picky, but that number includes servers too, where it is widely used.
        phaemon 11y ago
        Since they specifically say Desktop, I'm guessing they're measuring updates to stuff that's only on the Desktop (say, Unity or something).

BorisMelnik 11y ago

Since they are providing installation instructions on their website, does this mean they will also do phone / email support for Linux related installation issues?

SG- 11y ago
Right at #1: "Note: If you install an operating system other than the one that shipped with your system, then you do so at your own risk. Dell can't certify that the hardware will be compatible and we may not be able to support the system in that configuration."
- theyCallMeSwift 11y ago
  Dell has computers that they sell with Ubuntu on them already: http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-laptop?c=us&l=en&s=biz http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-lapt...
- truncate 11y ago
  I just bought refurbished XPS 13 with Windows because I wanted to save some money. Ubuntu wont work out of the box. There are whole bunch of issues that I'm still trying to resolve. So even if hardware is compatible, you may have hard time. I think it will take some time, because everything gets smooth. (afaik, hardware wise just wifi card is different)
  - pascalo 11y ago
    try using a newer kernel, fixed a lot of issues for my xps13 (not the latest revision). http://askubuntu.com/questions/119080/how-to-update-kernel-to-the-latest-mainline-version-without-any-distro-upgrade/142000#142000 http://askubuntu.com/questions/119080/how-to-update-kernel-t...
    - truncate 11y ago
      Thanks. There seems to be another issue of broadcom wifi being active when suspending hence draining all the battery. Have to figure workaround for that as well.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

gargarplex 11y ago

What's the best way to get an Ubuntu/Debian-compatible linux distro on my Mac laptop without destroying my data? The slowness of Yosemite seriously amps my cortisol.

r3bl 11y ago
Do you have a separate partition for your data? If so, then just install the distro normally. If not, then I don't see a way you can do it without losing your data since they're two completely different operating systems.
jordigh 11y ago
Both of them can boot from removable media (USB, CD, floppies)... You could just boot forever from a USB, using the same USB as temporary storage until the day when you're ready to partition your drive and install the free OS to your hard drive.
- gargarplex 11y ago
  That's a good idea. Unfortunately the Ubuntu USB "livecd" gives me a bizarre error code in reference to keyword firmware. I would actually buy a new linux laptop if I knew where to get one.
  - amk_ 11y ago
    System76[1] laptops come with Ubuntu out of the box. Historically Thinkpads have had pretty good hardware support, too. [1]: https://system76.com/ https://system76.com/
reddotX 11y ago
if you have an older mac just install Ubuntu Mate http://i.imgur.com/HB2meal.jpg http://i.imgur.com/HB2meal.jpg https://ubuntu-mate.org/ https://ubuntu-mate.org/
- gargarplex 11y ago

sirsar 11y ago

How official are publications in Dell's "Knowledge Base"? This one looks like it was written by a non-native English speaker, and doesn't seem to provide much Dell-specific information.

agonzalezro 11y ago
As far as I know they are directly coming from Dell. That's the "breaking" part of this manual, that a retailer as big as them are trying to explain how to get rid of Windows and just install a Linux distro.
- dogma1138 11y ago
  They have been selling Ubuntu on laptops for years now, you used to be able to get it on low end laptops like the vostro now days it seems its reserved for developer editions of their xps line only.
  - gtk40 11y ago
    They have some cheaper ones too, such as this: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3551-laptop-ubuntu/pd?ref=PD_Family http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3551-laptop-ubuntu/pd?r... (also a 14" for cheaper) I have a Dell Mini 9 that I got for >$200 years (2009?) that came with Ubuntu that I still use regularly. Now it's running Puppy Linux (Slackware based) though.
  - reddotX 11y ago
    yep New XPS 13 Developer Editionhttp://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx New Inspiron 14 3000 Series Ubuntu Edition http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-14-3451-laptop-ubuntu/pd?ref=PD_OC http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-14-3451-laptop-ubuntu/pd?r... New Inspiron 15 3000 Series - Ubuntu edition http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3551-laptop-ubuntu/pd?ref=PD_Family http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3551-laptop-ubuntu/pd?r...
  - tormeh 11y ago
    I don't get that. I would pay more for official Ubuntu support. Like, $150 more.

theyCallMeSwift 11y ago

Most people don't know this, but Dell actually has an amazing line of computers that come with Ubuntu on them already. Best part - there's a team of people who make sure there's 100% driver support for everything on the computer. Check it out: https://sputnik.github.io/ https://sputnik.github.io/

marktangotango 11y ago
I bought a dell 1525n in 08a with ubuntu preinstalled. Used it exclusively for several years. Tiday it has an ssd, 2 gb of ram xubuntu 1404, and boots tk login in 10 secs.
otar 11y ago
I'm very happy that I bought Dell XPS 13 (aka Sputnik 3) instead of MacBook Air. There were some problems regarding driver support thought... but in the latest Ubuntu 15.04 most of them, maybe even all of them, are gone. I've been using it for almost 1.5 years and can't recommend it higher.
- aroman 11y ago
  How's the battery life? Durability? Does the computer sleep/wake up when opening/closing the lid (as expected)?
  - otar 11y ago
    Note: I have a late 2013 edition, Sputnik 3, there's a newer - 2015 edition which has a much better battery life from what I've read. On average lasts ~7 hours, less if you're watching a video. Yes, sleep/wake up is working as expected. I myself was very impressed when I got the laptop, I didn't expect such beautiful and fine tuned laptop from Dell.
    - kogepathic 11y ago
      I have a Dell E6320 (Core i3-2310M) from 2011 that I'm running Arch on with a 6 cell battery. The laptop can easily go for 6 hours with WiFi on if you're just editing code or managing some servers via SSH. Upgraded to 16GB of RAM and an SSD. The only thing I wish was that the screen was higher resolution than 1366x768, but otherwise it's absolutely fantastic for Linux. The dock works so seamlessly it's amazing.

Adaptive 11y ago

I'm writing this on the first Dell I've owned since... 1999: a new "Developer Edition" XPS-13 2015 (FHD i5 variant for max power savings, which are pretty incredible). This is close the best linux laptop I've used, including various my various thinkpads and macbooks. A couple years ago I met an enthusiastic Barton George showing off the first gen XPS 13 at the ubuntu dev conference. It was sexy but flawed. I wasn't interested in the machine, but I thought Barton was a guy to watch. His project Sputnik group is the only reason I have kept Dell on my radar at all. They could be doing a lot in a better way: the customer outreach, ordering process, out of box experience: all include some (at times very) rough edges. Linux on the desktop is happening and, as I've said for a long time, it's happening where it needs to: with developers first. I'm not super excited with their Ubuntu centric strategy, but it's minimal effort to get Arch up and running on the Dell dev units. If anyone is going this route I'm maintaining a kernel for the XPS 13 (2015) here: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/linux-xps13-alt/ https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/linux-xps13-alt/

wyldfire 11y ago
I just purchased the same laptop. It's really excellent. But I am a little nervous about occasional panics when entering/exiting standby (15.04 vivid, 3.19.0-18).
- Adaptive 11y ago
  I jumped immediately to Arch, so can't speak to the situation with Ubuntu, sorry. I did walk through the initial out of the box boot/config of Ubuntu but was not impressed with the Dell tweaks and setup process, so dumped it. I'm definitely happier on a 4.0 kernel.
- woodson 11y ago
  I've also experienced occasional panics when entering/exiting standby, but only when a JVM instance or Virtualbox were running at the time. Otherwise standby/suspend seem to work fine (though maybe that's just a coincidence). I'm having a very good experience so far (14.04, 4.0 mainline kernel). Palm detection was broken, but the fix in [1] seems to have solved that as well. [1] http://stevenkohlmeyer.com/fixing-palm-detect-ubuntu-14-04/ http://stevenkohlmeyer.com/fixing-palm-detect-ubuntu-14-04/

bdcravens 11y ago

I just installed 14.04 on an 3-4 year old Inspiron. Haven't really pushed it, but it seems to have no issues, and I didn't have to do anything for everything to work; the vanilla install seemed fine.

bwldrbst 11y ago
I've been running Ubuntu on an Inspiron 17R SE since 2012. With the exception of the multi-touch touchpad pretty much everything worked fine out of the box.

Difwif 11y ago

Still waiting for Dell to fully support Ubuntu in their 2015 XPS 13 model. I made the switch from a Thinkpad after Lenovo burned me too many times. While the keyboard isn't quite as excellent it's still top notch and it's one of the best laptops I've ever owned. That being said getting everything working in Ubuntu has been a bit of a fiasco [1]. Luckily after some firmware upgrades and the new kernel in 15.04, a lot of issues have been fixed, but the laptop still does strange things waking up from sleep. The worst issue though is that audio still seems to not work in a dual boot configuration. The laptop can't produce sound from the speakers or headphone jack in both Windows and Ubuntu when booting between the two OS's. It seems the hardware gets put in a strange state by either OS and it takes two full reboots after switching from Windows<->Ubuntu to get the audio device to be recognized. Also HDPI support in Ubuntu is still a little lacking so the beautiful higher-than-retina display sometimes makes things absurdly small. I've seen a lot of progress on this front though. I really love this device but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the excellent out of the box hardware support for Thinkpads in Ubuntu. [1] - https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2015-model/ https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2...

vinay427 11y ago
How did Lenovo burn you? Even minimal distros such as Arch with various DEs/WMs work great out of the box on my T450s, because all of the hardware is supported in the kernel. Reading the 2015 XPS 13 Ubuntu guide made it seem like a painful process that involved downloading drivers, etc.
- smhg 11y ago
  3 things I can think of straight away: - WiFi-card whitelist - Function-keys touch strip - Fn and Ctrl keys switch
  - stonogo 11y ago
    - WiFi-card whitelist gone in the [x,t][2,4,5]50 series - Function-keys touch strip existed on one model for one revision, is now gone - Fn and Ctrl keys switch this layout is correct and is mandated in the first chapter of the Bible

justcommenting 11y ago

Not an endorsement of Dell or Ubuntu, but Dell appears to offer 8 (mostly lower-end) laptop models with Ubuntu pre-installed: https://www.dell.com/us/p/laptops https://www.dell.com/us/p/laptops

advancingu 11y ago

I've set up a public issue tracker on Github for the XPS 13 (2015) developer edition: https://github.com/advancingu/XPS13Linux/issues https://github.com/advancingu/XPS13Linux/issues It should contain descriptions and some workaround for the most obvious issues that currently exist for running Linux on these machines.

leommoore 11y ago

Kudo's to Dell for acknowledging that the world is more than just Windows. I'm the proud owner of a 1st Gen XPS 13 Developer Edition. It's a truly beautiful product and a joy to use (apart from some Wifi issues)

chdir 11y ago

There's lots of love for XPS 13 on this thread. I'm considering a switch from Thinkpad+Asus to something different. Is the "XPS 15" just as good? (Although it looks pricey).